Feed mixer and grinder



7 March 4, 1958 J. J. BYBERG FEED MIXER AND GRINDER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 26, 1953 ATTORNEY March 4,1958 Y J. .1. BYBERG 2,825,511

FEED MIXER AND GRINDER Filed May 26, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JONAS J. BYBEFIG ATTORNEY 1148111114!19-53 J. J. BYBERG 2,825,511

FEED MIXER AND GRINDER Filed May 26, 1953 :5 Sheets-She et s INVENTOR.

JONAS- U. BYBERG BY ATTORNEY United States Patent FEED R AND GRINDER Jonas J. Byherg, Silverton, Oreg.

Application May 26, 1953, Serial No. 357,540

4 Claims. (Cl.-24197) This application is a continuation-in-part of my pending application Serial No. 227,862 filed under date of May 23, 1951, and subsequently issued under date of Junev 9, 1953, as Patent No. 2,641,412 and bearing a similar title; and the invention described in the present application, like that in my said patent, also relates to the mixing and grinding of feed for farm animals.

Heretofore it has been customary practice to grind the feed or whole grain first before the feed or grain is mixed, such grinding being done by separate operation through the medium of conventional grinders, as for instance a burr mill or a hammer mill, or grinders of any of the various well known types. After such necessary grinding the mixing is done in a feed mixer. The type of feed mixer which has been used most extensively for many years in the past comprises a mixing tank, preferably having conically shaped bottom, and a rotating auger extending up from the bottom through the center of the tank to the top, which auger, by lifting the material to be mixed from the bottom of the tank and discharging it at or near the top of the tank, produces a circulating and mixing of the material in the tank with a repetition of this cycle.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved device in which both the grinding and mixing of the grain or feed will be accomplished and in this way reduce the time, expense and labor of having the grinding and mixing performed separately and successively as heretofore.

A related object of the invention is to provide an improved feed grinder and mixer which will perform the grinding and mixing automatically when the material to be ground and mixed is delivered to the machine and the machine placed in operation, thereby requiring only a minimum of supervision and care in the grinding and mixing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combination grinder and mixer which will be simple and practical in construction and moderate in cost, and which can be set up and employed wherever conventional feed mixers have previously been used.

My invention may be carried out with the employment of either the burr mill or hammer mill type of grinder or with the rolling mill type of grinding or treating means, as desired, and accordingly in the following specification, with reference to the accompanying drawings, I describe the use of each of these types of grinders in my combined grinder and mixer.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of my feed grinder and mixer equipped with a pair of grinding rings or grinding mill of the familiar burr mill type;

Fig. 2 is a corresponding sectional elevation of a slightly modified form of my feed grinder and mixer in which a hammer mill type of grinder is substituted in place of the burr grinding mill of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of, a further modificaice tion of my grinder. and mixer with crushing rolls forthe grain employed as" the grain grinding mill;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional elevationof the grinding mill shown in Fig. 3, the section being taken on the axis of the auger shaft; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Referring first to Fig. l, the tank in which the grinding and mixing of the feed takes place is indicated in general by the reference character 10. This tank has the customary conical bottomportion 11 terminating in a lower bottom cylindrical portion 12 of reduced diameter., A hopper 13 adjoins the bottom cylindrical portion 12 and is connected with the channel in the portion 12 by the intake opening 19. The tank has the customary discharge outlet 14 which is controlled by a shutter slide 15, or other suitable control. The tank is supported on a framework which includes legs 39 and a base 18, the rest of the framework being omitted from the drawings for the sake of clarity.

An auger, designated in its entirety by the reference character 16, extends upwardly through the center of the tank. The auger shaft is mounted in a bearing 17 at the extreme bottom of the tank and the auger extends up through the top portion 20 of the tank and through a suitable bearing 23 carried by the top plate 22. A belt pulley 40, secured to the top of the auger shaft above the tank, is connected by a-suitable driving belt (not shown) to an electric motor or other source of power as usual.

A stationary tubular housing or conveyor tube 21 surrounds the major upper portion of the auger. This conveyor tube 21 terminates at the top in an annular flange 27, which flange is secured to a plurality of bracket hangers 29 by which the conveyor tube is held supported in place. The top ends of these bracket hangers 29 are threaded and extend through the top plate 22 and the hangers are adjustably secured to the plate by means of nuts 30 and 31.

A grinding ring 28, of the burr mill type,.having,a top grinding surface, is secured on the flange 27. A spider 25 is keyed on the auger shaft and supports a cooperating grinding ring 26. Thus, as the material from the tank is moved upwardly through the conveyor tube 21 by the rotation of the auger, the material, upon reaching the top of the conveyor tube, passes between the stationary ring 28 and the rotating ring 26 and is subjected to the grinding or burr mill action of the rings before being discharged back into the tank and on top of the other material in the tank. Adjustment of the spacing between the opposed grinding surfaces of the rings 28 and 26 can be accomplished by adjusting the nuts 30 and 31 causing the top flange 27, and with it the stationary ring 28, to be raised or lowered.

Should the material in the tank be moved upwardly through the conveyor tube 21 by the auger more rapidly than it can pass outwardly between the grinding surfaces of the rings 28 and 26 the excess material will be thrust through the spider 25 and discharged back into the tank and its grinding accomplished in the course of a subsequent cycle. I have found it convenient to provide discharge openings or by-pass outlets 32 in the conveyor tube 21 below the top flange 27 in order to enable part or all of the material passing up through the conveyor tube to be discharged backinto the tank without being subjected to the grinding action. In order to control the by-pass outlets 32 1 provide a movable sleeve 33 adapted to close these by-pass outlets 32, either entirely orpartially as desired. Adjustment of the control sleeve 33 up or down is accomplished by a crank 36, which is supported on a bracket 37 and the outer end of which extends through the tank wall and carries a handle the conveyor tube as desired. a

connects the 'inner'en d of the'crank with t a pin134 secured on the'sleeve 33; Thus, by lowering the vsleev e'33 until the by-paesioutlets 32 are; entirely'open; :thefmateriahpassing ilp through .the conveyor tube 21 willbe discharged out" into the tankiwithout beingfsub- 1 ?jected to grinding and under such 'conditionsfthedevice yvill function'only as a feed inix er. On, the otherlhan'd,

partial or entire closing of the by-pass outlets" 32 will result in some orall of the material p'assing up through 21 being subjected to grinding action in Fig. 2 thetank 4l issimilaifto'the entering/1,

lar means 46; .The auger 47' extendsup5 through the center of thetank and its 'majorf upper portion is" an; closed by the conveyor tube 48. In' this modification-of "my device as illustratedin Fig. 2, the' conveyoftube 48 hasa wider annular flange 49 'at theftop, 'anea cylindrical screen plate 51 has its top edge scu'red to the top plate 50 of the tank while the flange 49 of the conveyortube 48 is secured to the bottom edg'e 'of-the'cy- 'lindrical screen plate 51. Asa result a cylindrical screen chamber is provided above the topof the eonveyortube in thetop of the tank. T

' 'A- tubular shaft 52 is rotatably'mounted 'on 'tlieupper V a g 7 portion of the auger shaft through the intermediary ot *the upper and lower bearing supports 53'-'and"54. A

further bearing for-the tubular shaft52 and also for the auger shaft is provid ed'at 5 inr the top plfate Q fof the tank; A' plurality of 'harnmen'mill' hammers 56 fare 'attached to the shaft 52, and, upon rapid regeneratintubular shatt 52, hammer mill grindingaction takes' place f within the cylindrical; chamber tof the screen l fsoithat the material delivered into this chamber from gthe: con 'yeyortube48 willbe subjected to thedeeired g ii IQ I E;

until it passes through the 'screen' plates sl andi is discharged back into the tank. Preferably the cylindrical at its'top so' as to allow excess material to be discharged into the tank, when the rate at which material is delivered from the top of the conveyor 'tube' exceedsjhe'f" rate at which.snch materialcan be gronndsuifieiently to be pa s d o tt lopea n s. t e wee plate 51.

'r r 1 gaze-01a I i 'having a 'conical lower portion'g42,1a'cylindrical bottom i 7 extension 43, a loading or feeding hopper- 4'4, anda dis-' charge outlet 45 controlledbya suitable shutter or simitypes of grinding previously mentioned. 1

"4 and 5 and the tarikf l l of flfigi;

cured on; thefconveyor on the lower end of the conveyor tubei48t 7' A crank V shaft 62, the inner end 'ofcwhich is rotatably s'uppported at 63 and the outer end of which extendsthrough the tank wall and carries ashandle 164, isconnected'by'a I link 61* to a bracket 60-on the sleeve 59. A stationary bracket 66, secured to' the tank wall, carries a'sto'p screw which limits'vthe downward movement of the sleeve 59'. so that when the bottom edge of thesleeve 59 isin 'maximum lowered position apas'sageway will always be pro videdbetween the bottom edge of the sleeve and the;

s adjacent slopingfwall of 'the lower portion fof the tank, H

' even tho ugh this isa"ieti'ieted passagewayffor the material moving into contact with the auger. In this man inert the amountfof materialmovedupwardly by thegaugerw will be limited'to the amount whichcan'betakencare of by the grinding means'without 'reducing'the auger speed. Then the raising of the sleeve 5 9 will increase a the rate at whichj'the :m aterial is rnoved by thej au'ger' without changing the auger speed. To? prevent anyclog- V s zging or plpgging jfiithe redueedlpassageway when the,

sleeve 59 is'fin low position, I attache-clearingfinger'67 'to the afi'genwhihkeepsthe passageway open'atalltimes With certain types'iot' feed it may beidesirablefto use grain ware; isfgrou'nd or crushed by a rolling mill action f in plac'e'of gr airfwhich"is eat or choppedby the other 1 mine moaned form of iny devicefshown iin pigs; 3,

e .jllilstrgije new my inventionlcan' be with the employment of grinding rollers tt e'l nkeqda e l lwzai 0? A cent a ri din -r l er? '1 shaftinj the top ofthe'tahk nd in h top ,ofjthe conable the hammer mill tdbe operated at a desired rate 4 of speedgwhiehjof course will be more rapid than the speed of rotation of the auger; 'Th'esauger sha ft in turn hasa pulley 58 which is secured to thetop end' of the auger shaft. Both"pulley's \S'L and 581 areiarranged so,

as to be beltldriven ffdm Vat'motorlor. otherlsq llceQof a power (not 'shown).'- By;propef adjustmentfof the/balaneeof speeds at, which therespective pulleys sjjand "58 are driven the materialcan be delivered =in'to1the the cooperatinggrinding rollers 74.- j J V s 7 The wall ofrthe conveyor tube 77 n a away o; ac-s commodate the outer or cooperating"grinding' rollers fl j a asshown 'in Fig, 5. Preferably a part-of eaeh'eut wall] 7 portion ofthe conveyorjtube is bent. inwardly so as to a form a lip or -tongue83 extending int'ci' closefproximity I 'to' the central roller 73, as shownin'Figl 5, and'sloping f y tube A a t sqt-eqa lsirs e ii f bn t i i ll 14 (thue h ee asj h w; Fig? r the auger sha t 1 1 eemed l a he QI aU'Ql Ri V meshes with gears 76 secured to the go'operating grinding rollers 74 respectively. Thus rotation o frthe augerfshaft 7 produces rotation of the central grinding roller and or v v inwardly in *a'direction opposed tothe direction of rotahammer mill chamber from-the conveyor tube 48 at the rate at which the ground material can bejidischarged, without" overloading the hammer i Controlled by-pass outlets can be provide'clin theicon- ,veyortube 48 below the'toprflangefas indicated atl90 in Fig. 2, ,similar'to the. b'y-pass. outlets 32 show/trill Fig. 1 and thus enabling the mixing of the materialin thet'ank' to take place with or without fnrtherl'grinding as desired;

Instead of reducing (the augerspeedto. limit the amount of material delivered iromath'e conveyor :tube toi'c'ori'espond to the amount whichcan beiground by thel'grinding means and 'since reducing augerjspeed might. be too slowfor efiicient operation :atall times, for example when the device :is to be used'cnlyjorlmixing oriwhen the tank is being filled through'the loading hopper 44,

I show in Fig 2=means-for reducing the rate atwhich the material be caused to beldeliveredjthroughithe' conveyor tubefwithoutrreducing. the ratetof rotation-of the ranger. An adjustable sleeve 59'is slidably mounted 75 the crushed tankl a ,r V r. J p 7: g f InFig. 3', as in Fig.1','theTconveyor tube is shown with r i l c'controlled 'bypass outlets loeated-below the grinding -means; Thus; theadutl'etsfs l of the conveyorrtube 77 7' are controlledby the sleeve operated-by the crank 86 1 r'rsupported in thebracket $1 and having an operating tion of the central roller 73.1"-v Th'ese'tongues 8 3 se1'lvethet V 7 'dual purpose of ren'iving any roll'ed grain that might havea' tendency to adhere tofthQrollers and of directing g i or rolled grainputwardly for deposit in the handle 88; 7

carried out ank ltlf of Fig. 1 a a a L' i sffl eEu e Y a -72 a d a b ifip fi F5 l m T L 1561131: 73

n '7 tube 77; Siispension shafts 79 'havetheirbgttornj'eiids securedinitheicollar78fi The 7 upper ends of"thesefshattsl extend thgoiighethejtop plate power is required for operation of the device and only a minimum amount of attention and maintenance.

The term grinding as herein used is intended to include not only the breaking up of material into small particles but also the crushing, rolling or the giving of any other treatment which is customarily given grain in grain grinding mills to change either the size or shape of the individual kernels.

1 claim:

1. In a feed mixer and grinder, a tank, a rotating auger to said grain grinding mill and, after passing through said mill, will be discharged back into said tank, and a bypass outlet opening in said conveyor tube below said grinding mill, a sleeve slidable on said conveyor tube controlling said bypass opening, and means for positioning said sleeve with respect to said by-pass outlet, whereby material in said tube can be discharged out into said tank for mixing without grinding when so desired.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 with said grain grinding mill including a cylindrical screen between the top of said conveyor tube and the top of said tank coaxial with said tube and said auger, a plurality of rotated hammers within said screen, whereby material delivered from said conveyor tube into the space enclosed by said screen will be subjected to hammer mill grinding until discharged through said screen and back into said tank.

3. In a feed mixer and grinder, a tank having a conically-shaped, downwardly-extending lower portion, a rotating auger extending vertically upwardly through the center of said tank and lower portion and adapted to convey material upwardly in said tank, a stationary conveyor tube surrounding the upper portion of said auger and terminating a spaced distance below the top of said tank, supporting means for said conveyor tube, a cylindrical screen between the top of said conveyor tube and the top of said tank co-axial with said tube and said auger, a tubular hammer shaft centrally positioned within said screen, a plurality of hammers attached to the hammer-mill shaft within said screen, and means for rotating said hammer-mill shaft, whereby material delivered from said conveyor tube into the space enclosed by said screen will be subjected to hammer mill grinding until discharged through said screen and back into said tank, a by-pass outlet opening in said conveyor tube below said screen, a sleeve slidable on said tube controlling said by-pass opening, and means extending to the outside of said tank for positioning said sleeve, whereby material in said tube can be discharged out into said tank for mixing without grinding when so desired.

4, A feed mixer and grinder including a tank having a co-axial conicaliy-shaped, downwardly-extending lower portion, a rotating auger extending vertically upwardly through the center of said tank and lower portion and adapted to convey material upwardly in said tank, a stationary conveyor tube surrounding the upper portion of said auger and terminating a short distance below the top of said tank, supporting means for said conveyor tube, a pair of cooperating grinding rings co-axial with said auger and said conveyor tube, stationary supporting means for one of said rings, means carried by said auger shaft for supporting the other of said rings causing said latter mentioned ring to be rotated with said auger, means for adjusting one of said rings with respect to the other in axial direction, a by-pass outlet in said conveyor tube below said pair of grinding rings, means on said tube controlling said by-pass outlet, and means for operating said last mentioned means, whereby material in said tube can be discharged out into said tank for mixing without grinding when so desired.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,233,911 Rios July 17, 1917 1,722,115 Sonsthagen July 23, 1929 1,849,187 Haines Mar. 15, 1932 1,852,712 Field Apr. 5, 1932 2,428,670 Hulse Oct. 7, 1947 2,504,486 Anderson Apr. 18, 1950 2,512,214 Riza June 20, 1950 2,578,805 Johnson Dec. 18, 1951 2,641,412 Byberg June 9, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 82,104 Sweden Sept. 17, 1934 814,374 Germany Sept. 20, 1951 

